The Sibelius Academy (, ) is part of the

University of the Arts Helsinki The University of the Arts Helsinki (, ), also known as Uniarts Helsinki, is a Finnish arts university that was launched in the beginning of 2013. Apart from a few exceptions, it is the only university in Finland that provides education in the f ...

and a university-level

music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

which operates in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

and

Kuopio Kuopio ( , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Savo. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Kuopio is approximately , while the Kuopio sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mos ...

, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in

Seinäjoki Seinäjoki (; "Wall River"; , formerly ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Ostrobothnia. Seinäjoki is located in the western interior of the country and along the Seinäjoki (river), River Seinäjoki. The population of Sein ...

. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities with roughly 1,400 enrolled students. The Sibelius Academy is the organizer of the International Maj Lind Piano Competition and one of the organizers of the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition held every five years in Helsinki.

History

The academy was founded in 1882 by Martin Wegelius as ' ("Helsinki Music Institute") and renamed ' in 1939 to honour its own former student and Finland's most celebrated composer

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...

. In 2013, the academy merged with two formerly independent universities, Helsinki Theatre Academy and Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, to form the University of the Arts Helsinki. Between 2015 and 2017 the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that ...

met at the Academy while its building was undergoing renovation.

Degrees

The primary degree at the Sibelius Academy is the

Master of Music The Master of Music (MM or MMus) is, as an academic title, the first graduate degree in music awarded by universities and conservatories. The MM combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually performance in singing or i ...

(MMus) degree. The school also offers postgraduate degrees with artistic and research options. The postgraduate degrees are the Licentiate of Arts in Music Lic.A. (Mus.) and the doctoral degree of Doctor of Arts in Music D.A. (Mus.)

Degree programmes

The Academy offers the following degree programmes: *Degree Programme in Church Music *Degree Programme in Composition and Music Theory *Degree Programme in Folk Music *Degree Programme in Jazz Music *Degree Programme in Orchestral and Choral Conducting *Degree Programme in Music Education *Degree Programme in Music Technology *Degree Programme in Music Performance *Degree Programme in Vocal Music *Degree Programme in Arts Management

Notable students and faculty (past and present)

Composers

* Greta Dahlström, music teacher and composer * Kalevi Aho *

Erik Bergman Erik Valdemar Bergman (24 November 1911 – 24 April 2006) was a composer of european classical music, classical music from Finland. Bergman's style ranged widely, from Romanticism in his early works (many of which he later prohibited from bein ...

* Paavo Heininen, former professor of composition * Tuomas Kantelinen * Pekka Kostiainen, composer and choral conductor * Magnus Lindberg * Jaakko Mäntyjärvi * Erkki Melartin, student/composer/professor/Director Helsinki Conservatory * Veli-Matti Puumala, professor of composition * Einojuhani Rautavaara * Kaija Saariaho * Aulis Sallinen *

Conductors

* Leo Funtek (1885–1965), violinist, conductor, arranger and music professor *

Paavo Berglund Paavo Allan Engelbert Berglund (14 April 192925 January 2012) was a Finnish Conducting, conductor and violinist. Career Born in Helsinki, Berglund studied the violin as a child, and played an instrument made by his grandfather. By age 15, he ha ...

, conductor * Pietari Inkinen, violinist, and conductor * Sasha Mäkilä, assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra * Eva Ollikainen, conductor of the

Iceland Symphony Orchestra Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa (concert hall), Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution u ...

* Sakari Oramo, conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra * Jorma Panula, conductor, composer and teacher * Atso Almila, conductor, composer and teacher *

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...

, conductor of the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...

, former conductor of the LA Philharmonic, composer * Jukka-Pekka Saraste, former conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra * David Searle, orchestral conductor of The Catholic University of America Symphony Orchestra * Leif Segerstam, conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra * Ulf Söderblom, Principal Conductor of the Finnish National Opera (1973–1993), taught at the Sibelius Academy and conducted its orchestras from 1965 to 1968Dahlström, Fabian (2011)
"Söderblom, Ulf"
. ''Biografiskt lexikon för Finland''. Online version retrieved 17 February 2015 . * Heidi Sundblad-Halme, founder and conductor of the Helsinki Women’s Orchestra; composer * Okko Kamu, conductor of the

Lahti Symphony Orchestra The Lahti Symphony Orchestra (''Sinfonia Lahti'') is a Finland, Finnish orchestra, based in the city of Lahti. The orchestra is resident at the Sibelius Hall. The orchestra was founded in 1910, and placed under the control of the Lahti municipali ...

* Osmo Vänskä, music director of the Minnesota Orchestra * Mikko Franck, conductor of the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France * Susanna Mälkki, conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra *

Hannu Lintu Hannu Petteri Lintu (born 13 October 1967) is a Finnish conductor. Early life and education Hannu Lintu was born in Rauma, the son of Johannes Lintu, an electrical engineer, and his wife Lilja Lintu (née Toivonen), a photographer. He studied p ...

, conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra * Klaus Mäkelä, conductor of the

Orchestre de Paris The Orchestre de Paris () is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra currently performs most of its concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris. History In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du ...

* Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia * Santtu-Matias Rouvali, conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, the

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (GSO; ) is a Swedish symphony orchestra based in Gothenburg. The GSO is resident at the Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen. The orchestra received the title of the National Orchestra of Sweden () in 1997. Ba ...

, and the

* Dalia Stasevska, conductor of the

* Tarmo Peltokoski, conductor of the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse and Latvian National Symphony Orchestra

Instrumentalists

* Astrid Riska, organist * Juhani Aaltonen, Finnish

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

saxophonist and flautist * Linda Brava, violinist * France Ellegaard (1913–1999), pianist and faculty member * Gerard Le Feuvre, cellist and founder of the Kings Chamber Orchestra * Simon Ghraichy (1985), pianist * Tuija Hakkila (1959), pianist * Anja Ignatius (1911–1995), violinist and professor * Kalevi Kiviniemi (1958–2024), organist * Kari Kriikku, clarinetist *

Matias Kupiainen Matias Kupiainen (born 11 May 1983 in Helsinki) is a Finnish guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the current guitarist in Stratovarius. Biography Kupiainen was chosen as the new guitarist for the Finnish power metal band Stratov ...

, lead guitarist of the band

Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band. Formed in 1984, they have released sixteen studio albums, six DVDs and six live albums. The band's line-up has changed many times, with no founding member left since the departure of drummer Tuomo ...

* Pekka Kuusisto, violinist * Risto Lauriala, pianist *

Max Lilja Max Lilja (born 27 October 1975) is a Finnish cello player. He is best known as a founding member of the Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica, a band he left in 2001 to join the Finnish thrash metal band Hevein. Beginning in 2007, Lilja has ...

, cellist in the band Hevein and founding member of

Apocalyptica Apocalyptica is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Helsinki, formed in 1993. The band is currently composed of three classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso. Originally a Classical music, classical- ...

* Hui-Ying Liu-Tawaststjerna, pianist * Paavo Lötjönen, cellist in the band Apocalyptica * Antero Manninen, former cellist in the band Apocalyptica and cellist in the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra * Olli Mustonen, pianist and composer * Arto Noras, cellist, student of Paul Tortelier * Mikko Paananen, known as Mige, bassist of the band HIM * Martti Pokela, founder of the

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

department and former professor of the kantele *Aku Raski aka Huoratron, electro house and chiptune musician * Martti Rousi, cello teacher * Kaija Saarikettu, Professor of solo strings and chamber music * Antti Siirala, winner of the Dublin,

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, and Beethoven international piano competitions * Agnes Tschetschulin, violinist, composer, one of the first four graduates * Eicca Toppinen, cellist in the band

* Perttu Kivilaakso, cellist in the band Apocalyptica, former Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra

Vocalists

Anneli Aarika-Szrok Eini Anneli Aarika-Szrok ( Fagerholm, 18 October 1924 – 2004) was a Finnish opera singer. Aarika-Szrok was born in October 1924 in Helsinki. She studied at the Sibelius Academy from 1944 to 1949, and then at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music i ...

, contralto * Kim Borg, bass * Monica Groop, mezzo-soprano * Tommi Hakala, baritone, winner of the 2003 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition * Jorma Hynninen, baritone * Soile Isokoski, soprano * Pille Lill, soprano * Topi Lehtipuu, tenor * Peter Lindroos, tenor (was both a student and teacher at the academy)Lampila, Hannu-Ilari (November 2003)
"Peter Lindroos"
(obituary). ''

Helsingin Sanomat , abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...

''. Retrieved 18 February 2015 . * Karita Mattila, soprano, winner of the 1983 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition * Jyrki Niskanen, tenor * Arja Saijonmaa, singer * Petteri Salomaa, bass-baritone * Tuuli Takala, soprano * Tarja Turunen,

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

, former singer of the symphonic metal band

Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neval ...

* Soila Sariola, singer of the double platinum awarded and multiple gold winning vocal ensemble Rajaton *

Matti Salminen Matti Kalervo Salminen (born 7 July 1945) is a Finnish operatic bass, now retired, who has sung at the most important opera houses of the world, including the Metropolitan and Bayreuth Festival. He is distinguished by an imposing figure a ...

, bass * Paula Vesala, singer of

PMMP PMMP is a Finland, Finnish pop rock band fronted by singers Paula Vesala and Mira Luoti and backed by musicians Mikko Virta, Juho Vehmanen and Heikki Kytölä. The name of the band is often said to be an abbreviation of the sentence "Paulan ja M ...

* Martti Wallén, opera singer

Junior Academy

Junior Academy is for highly skilled young musicians to study with top level professionals before entering a university.

References

External links

Sibelius AcademySibelius Academy official Facebook pageEffects of the Bologna Declaration on Professional Music Training in EuropeEuropean Association of Conservatoires (AEC)
{{Authority control Culture in Helsinki Education in Helsinki Music schools in Finland Universities and colleges in Finland Educational institutions established in 1882 1882 establishments in Finland Töölö